This invention relates to a liquid purification system. More particularly, this invention relates to a system for purifying a liquid such as pool water that is compact in size and readily installable, and at the same time, that is capable of purifying a large volume of liquid at a high purification level.
Various filtration systems have been proposed and actually put in use in the production of drinking water where water from river, lake, sea or drainage are purified. In such system, a porous ceramic filter is often employed for the filtration to remove various impurities and malodor contaminants that are unsuitable for drinking water. Various water purification systems for well or city water are also commercially available wherein a porous ceramic filter is utilized to remove the small amount of organic and inorganic substances present in the water that are responsible for the offensive odor and the poor taste.
Porous ceramic filters are also employed in the fermentation of beer, wine, sake, soy sauce, and the like, where solids and impurities should be removed from the fermentation products; and in the production of sauce, beverage, fruit juice, edible oil, and the like, wherein removal of solids and impurities are also required in their production. Since the drinking water, the liquors, the beverages, fruit juices, sauces, and cooking oils as mentioned above are to be taken in by drinking or eating, severe requirements are imposed on the systems used for their purification. Such systems are also required to have a large capacity in the case of an industrial scale production.
With the deepening concern for pollution, strict regulations have been established to control the quality of waste water from factories, and the water purification systems used for such purpose are required to have a higher performance as well as a larger capacity. In near future, waste waters from other businesses, schools, and facilities as well as waste water from home will be subject to such regulations. Accordingly, there are growing demands for various types of high-performance, low-cost water purification systems ranging from a small size to a large size.
Also, with the growing concern for physical fitness, many people nowadays prefer swimming as an exercise involving whole body that may promote their health and relieve physical stress. Accordingly, an increasing population, irrespective of their age or sex, often goes swimming in pools.
To allow such people enjoy swimming under safe and clean conditions, pools must be kept clean, particularly in terms of their water quality. In view of such a situation, severer requirements are imposed on the water purification system that determine the quality of the pool water, and there are growing demands for a higher-performance water purification system, which generally results in an enlarged size of the system.
The pool water purification system, which is a typical liquid purification system, may generally comprise a pre-filtration unit for removing dirt, hair and other coarse impurities generally present in the pool water; a filtration unit; an adsorption unit, and a disinfection unit for sterilizing the pool water. Such a purification system may optionally comprise a unit for supplying a filter aid to the filtration system; a heat exchanger unit to elevate the temperature of the pool water in the case of a heated swimming pool; and the like. The pool water generally circulates between the pool and the water purification system, and the water is thereby purified with the water quality being maintained at a hygienically acceptable level.
In view of such situation, a porous ceramic filter is frequently employed in the filtration unit of the water purification system, since the porous ceramic filter is abundant in minute three-dimensional filtration spaces suitable for trapping oils and other organic substances that are secreted from human body that are present in the water from heated swimming pool, and that could not be removed by conventional filters.
Installation of the water purification system may desirably be completed in a short period. In the case of building a new pool, there are many works to done besides the building of the pool itself, and installation of the water purification system should be completed as early as possible so as not to conflict with other works.
Situation is the same in the replacement of pool water purification system that is already in use with a new one. In particular, in the case of a heated swimming pool that is open throughout the year, the installation of the water purification system should be completed as early as possible in order to shorten the closure period.
In spite of such situation, installation of the water purification system is rather troublesome. First, the large size of the pool water purification system, and in particular, of the system with a high water purification performance is likely to induce various troubles in the transportation.
In addition, such water purification system is generally installed in a relatively small space together with the complicated lines connecting all the filtration, disinfection, adsorption and other units.
Furthermore, the machines and the devices such as a crane and a hoist that can be used for the installation of the water purification system at the installation site are limited.
As described above, installation of the water purification system at the installation site is quite troublesome and may take a considerable period.
The situation is similar for the installation of other liquid purification systems used for drinking water, liquors, beverages and sauces. Accordingly, there is a strong demand for a liquid purification system utilizing a porous ceramic filter that is compact in size, and that has a high liquid purification performance.